


I've got you under my skin

by pickyourselfupfred



Series: Fred and Ginger forever [36]
Category: Astaire/Rogers RPF, Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers Movies
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 01:37:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14843123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pickyourselfupfred/pseuds/pickyourselfupfred
Summary: Continuing the fictional aka the real romance in the Barkleys.





	I've got you under my skin

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Samantha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samantha/gifts), [taylor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor/gifts), [StillAintNoGood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StillAintNoGood/gifts).



After completing shooting the Barkleys’ bathroom quarrel director Charles Walters almost recklessly, well it was for him, decided to tear up his shooting script for once and go straight into filming the resolution of this spat which would take place in the couple’s bedroom and introduce a new song “You’d be hard to replace”. After all, as he reasoned to both of them, “We’ve got the set built and I can see you’re in the zone. How much in the zone he could hardly know but they readily agreed as the short dance that would accompany this hardly needed blocking. Besides, as Ginger said, if we just hold hands any dance would come unbidden. So shooting was scheduled for the following day.  
Naturally Fred had expressed what had become his usual misgivings about the song. It was during the recording for playback and after completing the session he had his customary moan to his favorite listener.  
“Look Gin, I know this song is about what they mean to each other but heck didn’t the Gershwins and Cole Porter do it better? I mean who could top “After You Who” and “They can’t take that away from me” and poor old Ira can’t seem to click writing lyrics for anyone after George. Oh baby there ain’t any good song writers anymore!”  
“Well maybe not for us Fred, we do have awfully high standards but hey that gives me an idea. You may just want to kiss me for this.”  
“i don’t need any incentives for that now fess up, what is this great revelation?”  
“Ok, now cast your mind back to when we were both a little younger.”  
“How far back do I go - toddler stage?”  
“Oh only to a time when Ira and George were writing for both of us.”  
“Hey that’s not so long ago….. ‘Shall We Dance’ and oh no those God awful masks and the dancing hair pin,” he hesitated, “Great score though like I said “They can’t take that away”, wonderful song, our song.”  
“Yeh, the boys wrote it just for us and our memories and Ira captured it all in those emotional lyrics.”  
“Those days back in New York”, Fred said wistfully.  
“Well then Freddie, you know that dance we have in the movie that’s been so sticky for Ira and Warren?”  
“You mean when Dinah and Josh are brought together again to dance for that benefit?”  
“You got it. Now why don’t we use “They can’t take that away from me” as our number then?”  
Fred grabbed her and gave her the longest kiss.  
“Oh baby, you deserved that, you...you….genius”.  
“Remember how desperate we were to dance to it then.”  
“Yes and Sandrich nixed it cos he said it wouldn’t work.”  
“I can hear him now, “Who’d ever dance on a ferry?”  
“I should have fought harder for that.”  
“ He wouldn’t have changed his mind even if you’d stood over him with a rifle. Remember he had a weird agenda on that movie.”  
“Well we’ll dance to it on this movie sweetie. I’ll sort it with everyone concerned. It’ll be a nod to our past”  
“A nod to our future.”  
“Talking about future, what on earth are we going to do with this clunker? It’s prerecorded, they won’t change that.”  
“Don’t worry Fred, we can make it as romantic as we possibly can,” she paused, “ that is if you think you can handle that”  
She was in his arms once more.  
“Give me time tonight and I’ll show you romantic.”  
She giggled, “Well I’ll certainly put that in my diary. Now you big lunk, what shall we do tomorrow?”  
“Oh Gin, let’s throw caution to the wind and just be ourselves, our private selves, no acting required and by gosh we’ll sell this song.”  
The romance Fred promised was delivered. He arrived back at Ginger’s, having acquired en route, all the trappings of the romantic swain, so, as she greeted him, she was presented with a large bouquet of red roses, an enormous bottle of her favorite perfume and those all important chocs in a heart shaped box tied with a pink ribbon.  
“Oh Fred”, she cried, “My Romeo!”, and all but crushed him in her embrace.  
The seduction scene that followed was worthy of Casanova at his finest and they spent the night in the warmth and tenderness only true love can provide.  
Still in the afterglow of yet another wonderful night they were ready to give their all in the scene they to shoot today. Fred whispered to her just before they began, “No acting required, just us.”  
During the course of the shoot Ginger, as Dinah, fussed and fretted about hurting him before playback of ‘You’d be hard to replace’ started. When it began they fell easily into their roles of a loving couple. During the course of the song Fred cupped Ginger’s chin as he usually did in a prelude to a kiss. He came to hold her arms and, instinctively, her hands sought to hold his elbows. He swung her round and, embracing her from behind, let his thumb lightly brush against her breast before she enclosed his hand in her own. She tugged gently at the lapels of his dressing gown as she often did to bring him close and tussled his tie in that ‘I’ll show the world you’re mine’ gesture that women often unconsciously use when with the man they love. They snuggled cheek to cheek before the simple few steps of dance that finally allowed Fred to lower her gently to the couch. This, they had discussed, was almost as the dance to ‘Night and Day’ had ended in ‘The Gay Divorcee’ and Fred had said, “We left the audience wanting more in that movie but we’ll make up for it in this”. So, as he eased her down, she used her pointer finger in a familiar gesture for both of them to beckon him in before they kissed.  
“Cut and print it”,stopped them in their tracks before a delighted Charles Walters came up to them saying enthusiastically “That was beautiful you guys, perfect show of affection. It was so good it was almost spontaneous like you’d been playing this scene all your lives. Hey though, if you’d got any more horizontal during that last kiss I’d have had the Hays office on my back!”  
As he turned back to the crew Fred tenderly nudged Ginger, “Job done baby!”


End file.
